Online retail giant Amazon has opened its first physical book store in the US - where it will sell books for the same price as on its website. The shop, in Seattle, will be the “physical extension” of its business.

James Daunt, managing director of rival Waterstones, said it believed the venture would be “damaging” and said he hoped the venture “falls flat on its face”. The 5,000 books available in the store will be selected based on their popularity in Amazon’s online customer ratings, pre-orders, sales and popularity on reader recommendation site Goodreads.

Customers shop at the new Amazon Books store at University Village in Seattle, Washington. Picture: Getty/AFP

Amazon vice-president Jennifer Cast said: “We’ve applied 20 years of online bookselling experience to build a store that integrates the benefits of offline and online book shopping.”